Theyalmosttook those secrets to the grave.
But, it can also lead you to finding out things about them that you had no idea about.
Not even my grandpa [she had it before they met].
We tracked him down, and he was the coolest, most normal one out of the bunch!"
“When my grandpa died, we found a bunch of stuff that no one knew existed.
And one of the things we found was the deed to a house we didn’t know anything about.
It was written in 1982.
It mentioned that my mom was married before marrying my dad.
It hurt that in 35 years my mom never told me.
Especially when I had gone through a divorce in my early 20s.
Later, I found my mom and dad’s marriage license.
Her divorce was about six months prior to marrying my dad.
They divorced when I was 4.”
“My grandmother passed after a blood clot incident.
She had several conditions that no doubt led up to this.
My father, uncle, and my sisters were left to clean out her things from her apartment.
However, one day it was just my dad and me going through her bedside table.
We found her diary.
She said she wanted to die.
My dad threw it away so his brother would never have to see it.
So, um, yeah.
Go hug a grandparent.”
“My grandma died when I was 16, after getting cancer for the third time.
My granddad moved into a smaller apartment, and my cousins and I helped to clean out their house.
(A side-note: There are nine of us, aged at the time from 1226.)”
“My grandmother hoarded silver dollars over the years and hid them throughout her house.
The whole hoard ended up being worth about $7,000.”
“My grandma’s house had money EVERYWHERE.
Every purse had at least $100 cash.
Suitcases had a few hundred more.
Every coffee can or other container in her kitchen had rolls of money.
“My mother had a large collection of handwritten erotic campfire sing-alongs stowed away.
I’ll see if I can find a few.”
“My grandpa had four grenades he brought back from WWII in his garage.
We had to call in the bomb squad.”
“Grandpa was high up in the CIA.
I actually found top secret folders!
My grandpa was in the CIA and helped oversee the beginning of the sky marshal program.
I opened a box with a legitimate red top secret stamp across it.
It had a bunch of what my 15-year-old self would call ‘boring papers.'”
“My husband died in 2009 of a heart attack.
He was a widower when I married him.
“My parents divorced when we were kids, and my dad remarried a couple years later.
Although it was generally assumed that this had happened, seeing the evidence was painful.”
“I befriended an older gentleman who had zero family or friends.
He moved into our area, and I struck up conversation with him after church one particular Sunday.
We kept in touch regularly for about three years.
“I found out my grandmother was an unwed mother when I found her real marriage certificate.
My grandmother said the film got exposed and she had no pictures.”
“After my grandfather died, I found out that he worked for the Army in Fort Monmouth.
Whenever anyone asked what he did for a living, he said he ‘makes coffee.’
Turns out his actual job was very classified, and nobody knew what it was.
Not even my grandma.”
“My mother and I found out my maternal grandmother was a spy during World War II.
We found her papers and gun in her dresser in a retirement home.
Oh boy, was that a wild time.”
“My dad was a pretty reserved guy.
It’s just who he was.
After he died of cancer, we went to his office to clear it out.
20.And lastly, “My dad’s grandmother was a huge hoarder.
When she died, he had to go clear out the house, which was no easy task.
After several days of trying to clear out the house, my dad finally made it to her bedroom.
My dad called his mom immediately, since she was his grandmother’s only daughter.
After getting her permission, he opened the envelope and found a letter and a birth certificate.”
it’s possible for you to read the original Reddit threadshereandhere.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
